Horace Parlan - Us Three (1960) (BN Connoiseur edition)

Horace Parlan - Us Three (1960)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 250MB

Blue Note Connoisseur Edition | 20-bit SBM

Allmusic:
On this recording made in 1960 during his tenure with Lou Donaldson, pianist Horace Parlan is situated nicely alongside bassist George Tucker and drummer Al Harewood. The trio had its own gig on Sundays at Minton's in Harlem, and had established a repertoire and reputation for being able to lay down both hard bop and soul-jazz stylings with equal verve. (And yeah, that jazz/hip-hop group from the 1990s was named after this disc.) The proceedings here are straight-ahead with some cool soul-jazz touches. Parlan's "Wadin'" moves the off-minor key of "Wade in the Water" and funkifies the rhythm, paraphrasing and improvising as the rhythm section struts it out. On the title track, there is a gorgeous lilt in his playing that corresponds to a behind-the-beat walk by Tucker that makes Harewood slip and shimmy constantly on the cymbals with his brushes. There and on "I Want to Be Loved" as well as "Return Engagement" (another Parlan original), something else starts to creep into his playing: the spacy, spare feel of Ahmad Jamal, who Parlan cited as a contemporary influence. The economy of touch, which stands in stark contrast to the hard bop he played with Donaldson and the energetic music he played with Mingus, is in some ways more complex harmonically, and more emotionally satisfying. This is a fine effort from an underappreciated trio.

Tracks
1. "Us Three" - 4:33
2. "I Want to Be Loved" (Savannah Churchill) - 4:50
3. "Come Rain or Come Shine" (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) - 6:26
4. "Wadin'" - 5:52
5. "The Lady Is a Tramp" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) - 7:09
6. "Walkin'" (Richard Carpenter) - 7:06
7. "Return Engagement" - 4:48
All compositions by Horace Parlan except as indicated
Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ on April 20, 1960

Personnel
* Horace Parlan - piano
* George Tucker - bass
* Al Harewood - drums

sample & buy: Us Three

Horace Parlan - Up & Down (1961) (RVG)

Horace Parlan - Up & Down (1961)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 375MB

Blue Note | RVG 24-bit remaster 2008

Allmusic:
By adding guitarist Grant Green and tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin to his standard rhythm section of bassist George Tucker and drummer Al Harewood, pianist Horace Parlan opens up his sound and brings it closer to soul-jazz on Up and Down. Green's clean, graceful style meshes well with Parlan's relaxed technique, while Ervin's robust tone and virile attack provides a good contrast to the laid-back groove the rhythm section lays down. Stylistically, the music is balanced between hard bop and soul-jazz, which are tied together by the bluesy tint in the three soloists' playing. All of the six original compositions give the band room to stretch out and to not only show off their chops, but move the music somewhat away from generic conventions and find new territory. In other words, it finds Parlan at a peak, and in many ways, coming into his own as a pianist and a leader.

Tracks
-1. "The Book's Beat" (Booker Ervin) - 9:50
-2. "Up and Down" (Horace Parlan) - 6:11
-3. "Fugee" (George Tucker) - 7:04
-4. "The Other Part of Town" (Grant Green) - 11:41
-5. "Lonely One" (Babs Gonzales) - 4:06
-6. "Light Blue" (Tommy Turrentine) - 6:04
-7. "Fugee" [alternate take] (Tucker) - 7:01
Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ on June 18, 1961

Personnel
* Horace Parlan - piano
* Booker Ervin - tenor saxophone
* Grant Green - guitar
* George Tucker - bass
* Al Harewood - drums

sample & buy: Up & Down